Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment announced today the formation of WB Games San Francisco, a new, digital video game studio in San Francisco, California. Opening this year, the studio will specialize in developing and publishing high-quality, free-to-play, mobile, social and browser-based games.

“We are extremely pleased to add WB Games San Francisco to our global portfolio of studios and publishing capabilities,” said Martin Tremblay, President, Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment. “As our company has grown over the years, it has been a high priority to attract and cultivate creativity and innovation in top markets for game development around the world.”

Greg Ballard, Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment’s Senior Vice President of Digital Games, will lead the studio.

“The Bay Area is the home of social and mobile gaming and WB Games San Francisco is Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment’s opportunity to expand our game development capabilities into the epicenter of the digital world,” said Ballard.

“San Francisco is a hotbed of local talent and convenient access to major partners, and this will help us achieve our goal to bring our top entertainment and gaming brands, as well as original IP, to multiple mobile, social and emerging platforms.”

In addition to developing games, WB Games San Francisco will also oversee publishing of all other mobile games developed by Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment. The studio will be located in the same offices as San Francisco-based Flixster, one of the most popular online destinations for discovering and accessing content.